Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

VegasBeat — Timothy McDarrah: New school prepares for Tony award

Remember the Alamo. Tony Alamo, that is.

A dedication ceremony for a new elementary school named after him is scheduled for Thursday.

And friends of the Mandalay Resort Group senior vice president say he is seriously thinking of running for elective office.

"I am not running for office. That's not what I want to do ... at this point in my life," Alamo cryptically told VegasBeat on Monday night.

In August at a speech before the Latin Chamber of Commerce, Alamo urged the group (which he helped found 26 years ago) to become more politically active.

Last month the group offered its first political endorsement, backing the re-election of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

Gloria Estefan -- who shares Alamo's Cuban heritage -- is rumored to be attending Thursday's 6 p.m. festivities at the El Camino Road school, which opened in August.

Also scheduled to attend are Clark County School Board chief Carlos Garcia and reps from Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign's offices.

Alamo has been in the news lately because Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., sent a letter to the Nevada Boxing Commission asking it to investigate the professional relationship between Alamo and his son, Tony Alamo Jr.

Alamo Jr., a doctor, is vice chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversees boxing events. One of the properties in father Alamo's domain is Mandalay Bay, which frequently hosts boxing events regulated by his son's commission.

The potential for a conflict of interest is obvious, although no one has made any allegations of any illegal activities by either Alamo.

Soup's on

Talk about a solid job reference.

Chef James Patten was on Les Kincaid's nationally syndicated KDWN 720-AM radio show on Saturday, which is broadcast live from Swan Court at Aureole inside Mandalay Bay.

"I was working as a sous chef at the Marriott in Washington, D.C. My specialty was soups," Patten said. "One day a White House chef was sick and one of my regular customers, Donald Regan" -- President Ronald Reagan's Treasury secretary at the time -- "suggested that I fill in to help prepare a state dinner they were having for some Swiss officials.

"I guess other people associated with the White House liked my cooking, too. What was supposed to be a one-night thing lasted for three years."

Patten is now the top chef at Bel Aire West, a new $20 million luxury retirement community on Durango Drive near Flamingo Road.

Knock out

Caesars Palace was the host casino for the fight, but Aladdin got the party.

After he decisioned John Ruiz to take the World Boxing Association heavyweight crown at the Thomas & Mack Center on Saturday night, Roy Jones Jr. held a star-studded after-fight party at Curve inside the Aladdin.

"What can we say?" Aladdin's publicity princess Tyri Squyres crowed to VegasBeat.

"Jones was looking for a hot Las Vegas nightclub and Curve was the obvious choice. People were throwing money at him to get this event for their club, but he loves Curve," Squyres said. "Who can blame him?"

Jones, who hardly looked as if he had just come from a 12-round title fight, hosted a long list of personalities who had been ringside, including Denzel Washington, Shaquille O'Neal, Donovan McNabb, Scarface, John Salley, Dorsey Levens and Iran "The Blade" Barkley.

Stoned celebs

There are some advantages to having been voted off the reality show "I'm a Celebrity -- Get Me Out of Here!"

The first five rejects -- Nikki Zierling, Tyson Beckford, Alana Stewart, Maria Conchita Alonso and Las Vegas' Robin Leach -- are getting front-row seats to see the Rolling Stones perform tonight in Brisbane, Australia.

And the quintet are being housed at the ulta-luxury Palazzo Versace Hotel on Queensland's Gold Coast. That's gotta be better than a rain-soaked cot in the Outback.

Dancin'

The cast of "Spirit of the Dance" from Golden Nugget -- in costume -- will be at Las Vegas City Hall for Wednesday's 9 a.m. council meeting.

The performers are getting a proclamation from Lynette Boggs McDonald naming Wednesday "Spirit of the Dance Day."

The cast will also march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 15.

Action!

The curtain goes up today at the big ShoWest movie convention at Paris Las Vegas.

The president of the Motion Picture Association of America, Jack Valenti, speaks at the opening ceremony this morning. The big event tonight is a screening of "Finding Nemo," the new animated adventure from Disney's Pixar Animation Studio.

Valenti also speaks Wednesday at a seminar on film piracy.

Adam Sandler is coming to Las Vegas for the Wednesday screenings of his new film with Jack Nicholson, "Anger Management."

The event concludes with Thursday night's gala award ceremony. Honorees on tap to attend include Sandler, Brian Grazer, Diane Lane, Antwone Fisher, David Heyman, Chris Wedge, LL Cool J, Sam Mendes, Christopher Walken and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

VegasBits

Another big concert that is not coming to The Joint: Pearl Jam. Eddie Vedder and his band play the MGM Grand Garden Arena on June 6. Tickets -- a steal at only $35 -- go on sale Saturday.

The Rev. Edward A. "Monk" Malloy -- the president of the University of Notre Dame -- will be the keynote speaker at the annual dinner of the Notre Dame Club of Las Vegas on Sunday ...

Richard Petty was at the Cannery in North Las Vegas graciously signing autographs and posing for photos with fans over the weekend ...

"X" producers Bobby Boling and Angela Sampras were scheduled to be guest speakers this morning at a University of Nevada, Las Vegas entertainment seminar. They were going to discuss adult shows on the Strip. Go with what ya know, huh? ...

Brilliant, biting and sometimes hard-to-decipher comic Jackie Mason will be at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre April 3 to April 9. Tickets are a reasonable $50 (less than his recent Broadway show) and went on sale this morning ...

Representatives for Don King were prowling around with people from The Venetian the other day about opening up a boxing-themed restaurant on the property ...

It's a six pack. There was some confusion regarding VegasBeat's new-and-improved publishing schedule when it was announced last week. To make sure everyone is on the same page -- this one! -- VegasBeat now appears every weekday, plus Sunday, for a total of six days per week.

From Sun wires

A prosecution witness in the murder case against Robert Blake came under attack by the actor's lawyer, who claimed the retired stuntman invented incriminating stories to curry favor with police.

Ronald "Duffy" Hambleton, who testified he was solicited by Blake to kill the actor's wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, acknowledged under cross-examination Monday he only made the claim six months after police began interrogating him.

Bakley, 44, was shot to death May 4, 2001, outside a restaurant where she and Blake had just dined. Prosecutors claim the actor shot her after giving up on Hambleton and two other men he allegedly had solicited for the job.

Quotes from police interviews on May 16, 2001, and five days later show Hambleton repeatedly insisted he knew nothing about the Bakley killing.

But on Nov. 29, 2001, he changed his story, saying Blake told him he wanted his wife "snuffed."

Asked why he ultimately changed his story and implicated Blake, Hambleton said, "I finally made up my mind telling it like it is probably the right thing to do. ... I believe it is morally right."

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